Need advice on sinks

I am getting a new stainless sink in my kitchen. I now have a cast iron enamel one. I believe the choices would be a brushed type of stainless or the regular polished kind. What are the pro's and cons? Pls provide advise.

Toria

"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,W. Shakespeare

With stainless sinks, you do get what you pay for to a point. For example, better sinks are thicker and have better sound dampening. This makes for a much quieter running sink. That said, a middle of the road Elkay is a fine sink, and much less expensive than the German and Swiss competitors. The Chinese sinks are not where I would spend my money, I find the steel quality to be questionable at best and the quality control is poor with warped sinks very common.

Definitely go brushed, it hides a multitude of scratches and wear.

I like porcelain sinks, a good Kohler will be very difficult to stain and will wear like iron. They also retain heat well and are quiet. What type of counter are you planning? That will affect your sink choice as well. Be VERY VERY careful when choosing the length, it's easy to go to deep front to back and end up with no room for the faucet.

I am replacing my countertops with granite ones. I prefer the look of stainless with granite. Also now I have a cast iron enamel sink. Its an elkay I think and about ten years old. There is nothing really wrong with it. But everytime I cook and put pots in it I get gray scrapping marks on it and things like tea and coffee and other things make marks or stains in the sink. Its easily scrubbed out with bonami or soft scrub. I guess there are advantages and disadvantages to every kind of sink. Thanks for the advice.

Toria

"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,W. Shakespeare

There are some really great shapes available in stainless sinks by Elkay and Kohler. Owning a deep two sided sink made me realize that a larger undivided sink would have been preferable since you can always place a tub in the sink.

A granite top will increase the depth of the sink by 1-1/4" so take that into consideration. You also need to know if you are using a disposal and what your drain height is. Contact me via PM if you need tech info, I have designed and sold granite counters for years.

I used to think the brain was the most important part of the body. Then I realized who was telling me that.

We are embarking on a kitchen remodel in a couple of weeks. Yay - no more hideous faux green marble countertops!

We've picked out cabinets, floor tile, and countertops, but are having difficulty selecting a sink. The goal is brushed stainless. I'm leaning towards the Kohler Vault Offset, but Jonathan is not too happy with the price.

We just installed a Blanco brushed stainless steel sink and are very happy with it. I don't have the model number handy, but the MSRP is around $500 and Build.com sells it for under $300. Build.com (and their network of sites) have great prices and a very large selection.

The single versus double sink is a matter of personal preference for how you will use the sink. I would only get a single basin because I like to be able to fit large pots in the sink.

I basically wanted the largest rectangular sink I could find. It turns out that rounded edges are a bit less expensive than sharp 90 degree edges.

As it turns out, I got a brushed stainless steel sink with two bowls. One is large and oversized and one is somewhat smaller. Very functional and works very well. Easier to upkeep than the enamel sink I have where everything put in it seemed to leave some thing to clean up after.

Toria

"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,W. Shakespeare

Thanks for the replies. I guess I've always had a two compartment sink, so that's what I'm used to. I wonder if it makes a differance that we are largely a vegetarian household? Other than a pasta pot, a soup pot, and the occasional sheet pan, I don't find myself washing a lot of large items by hand. I haven't had any problem fitting those in one side. I also don't like having a drying rack on the counter - I typically put it in the second side.

I guess I could consider making a change. Another thing to think about...

Toria - glad to hear you are happy with the stainless. We currently have white enamel. Whomever installed it probably was not a coffee drinker. It's a nightmare to keep clean.

She was visiting a friend and pitched in to help with the dishes. This person had a very deep sink. Someone leaned over to quietly advise this sink might irritate her back. Sure enough, she had to stop contributing to washing and switched off to drying.

The person who warned her has an otherwise healthy back. She found the constant bending deep into this sink a pain.

I have a double sink. I put the cuttng board across the little sink. I work away dumping debris over the edge into the sink. More often than not, I scoop up this debris for the mulch pile. Whatever is left is settled by the disposal.

It's interesting how the perfect sink for one person can be the complete opposite of what someone else might want. There are so many styles out there my head was spinning. At some point, you just have to pick one, hope for the best, and live with it.

Unless, of course, someone out there has a nightmare story about Kraus sinks.... then please share.

LynnB wrote:It's interesting how the perfect sink for one person can be the complete opposite of what someone else might want. There are so many styles out there my head was spinning. At some point, you just have to pick one, hope for the best, and live with it.

Very true. I remember someone telling me that I can't look at every faucet. There are too many and the differences aren't that great.

I've never heard of Krause, but the sink and faucet looks great and the price seems very reasonable.

This was a comment I contributed to elsewhere, which is relevant to this thread. This person is contemplating a single sink over a double-sink:

Until recently, I had double-sink forever. There was a deep sink to the left and a shallower sink to the right with a disposal. My cutting board bridged the smaller sink. As I prepped food, the debris would drop into the smaller sink. After I was finished, I would collect the vegetable bits for the compost. Some things would drop into the disposal, so I would occasionally turn it on.

When it came to bathing the cat, which is a rare event. I would fill the small sink with warm water to scoop onto her while she stood in the larger sink.If the dishwasher was on the fritz, I would put soapy water in the small sink. When all the dishes were washed and placed in the large sink, I would rinse in the small sink and put the dish into the dishwasher.

The double sink was also useful when canning. The deep sink would be where my blanched tomatoes would go to cool. The small sink was where I did the peeling and trimming. I then had large containers to put the prepped tomatoes awaiting cooking or jarring.

The deep sink I have now had a raised rack maybe an inch above the sink's floor. I really didn't see why I needed this rack. When a visitor put it away with all my other racks last summer, I have yet to retrieve it. That rack made cleaning the sink a two step process. If any food droppings got caught on the rails, I would have to hand remove it sometimes.

If you are prone to back problems, do consider how deep you really want this sink to be. I saw a friend whose really too deep sink became a back strain issue.I have a double-drawer dishwasher. I love the load-and-go versatility, because there is no reason for dishes to end up in the sink. What I do hand wash are pots and some baking dishes. When I make a casserole or lasagna, I put it in the dishwasher with stuck on food. It is clean as a whistle at the end of the cycle.

After thinking while writing, I find I prefer the two sink more to my liking. I had 47 years to develop a workable system. If I wanted to hide dishes from plain sight, a deep sink will cover a lot of territory.